High-temperature oxidation of Cu–2.1Be commercial alloy

Abstract

The high-temperature oxidation behavior of a Cu–2.1Be commercial alloy was studied. Samples subjected to oxidation treatments for 17 h at 850 °C in air were characterized by gravimetric and hardness measurements, Raman microspectroscopy and LIBS measurements. The corrosion products formed on the surface of the samples oxidized for 17 h at 850 °C in air consisted of BeOand copper oxides. From the in-depth characterization obtained by LIBS, it was found that the oxide film would be of around 40 μm, with an outermost layer richer in beryllium compared to the inner layer. In the bulk of the alloy, a diffusion gradient of beryllium was observed in the region closest to the interface with the oxide film, with an outer layer richer in beryllium. The hardness decreasesfrom 93 HV to around 84 HV after five oxidation treatments in samples subjected to oxidations of 17 h at 850 °C and polished. This decrease would be associated with the growth of the grain size due to the oxidation treatment and the loss of beryllium from the alloy due to the formation of the corrosion products. However, the loss of beryllium is not large enough to affect the formationof γ’ precipitates.